A group of sexual assault survivors joined a pair of U.S. House members to demand transparency from President Donald Trump and the U.S. Justice Department around the latter’s investigation into deceased financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Led by Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna of California and Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, the cohort stood outside of the U.S. Capitol building Wednesday afternoon to call for a release of the Justice Department’s full records – beyond the pages released Tuesday, many of which had already been made public.
“Today … we’re united in restoring trust in government. We’re here not as partisans, we’re here as patriots,” Khanna said at the press gathering.
She and Massie are going about their pursuit for the files through atypical means: By filing a discharge petition, which would force a Congressional vote on the release of information if they can get 218 signatures from fellow House members. In a show of bipartisan support, Republican Reps. Marjorie Taylor Green, Lauren Boebert and Nancy Mace have already signed.
The cohort of survivors who spoke was bipartisan, too – Haley Robsen, one of several women who took to the podium, identified herself as a registered Republican while addressing the public, adding, “not that that matters, because this is not political.” She called on Trump to remember the personhood of all of the survivors. “We are real human beings. This is real trauma.”
Epstein, who died by suicide in August 2019, victimized hundreds of girls and women over the course of decades. British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, a longtime associate of Epstein’s, was convicted for her involvement in the mass trafficking and assault in 2021. The two are known to have relationships with many high-profile folks – from Trump himself, to British royal Prince Andrew and former President Bill Clinton – making Epstein’s client list of particular public interest.
In response to the demonstration, Trump dismissed the collective call for openness as a “Democrat hoax that never ends.” He continued, while speaking to members of the press from the Oval Office: “They’re trying to get people to talk about something that’s totally irrelevant to the success that we’ve had as a nation since I’ve been president.”
The survivors have their own interpretation of such stonewalling. “The only motive for opposing this would be to conceal wrongdoing,” said Anouska De Georgiou, one of those gathered before the press on Wednesday.
She then added, “You have a choice: Stand with the truth – or with the lies that have protected predators for decades.”
